For Providers

CAPC provides the essential tools, training, technical assistance and metrics you need to
sustain palliative care in hospitals and all other health care settings.
As a member organization, your entire staff has full access to CAPC.
Browse our site to learn more.

For Payers & Policymakers

Payers, providers, policymakers, and communities are finding new ways to deliver and finance palliative care.
These efforts have the potential to rapidly transform serious illness care in the United States.

Membership

CAPC makes sure you never have to reinvent the wheel because we are the hub for palliative care training, best practices, tools, technical assistance and metrics. We are also a vibrant community and convener of professionals dedicated to advancing the field of palliative care.
Call CAPC to enroll your organization today.

For Employers

About

The Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC) is a national organization dedicated to increasing the availability of quality palliative care services for people facing serious illness. Browse our site to learn more.

Press Releases

Palliative Care Programs Continue Rapid Growth in U.S. Hospitals Becoming Standard Practice throughout the Country

Large and Not-for-Profit Hospitals Take the Lead
For-Profit Hospitals Lag Behind

New York, NY (April 5, 2010) — United States hospitals continue to implement palliative care programs at a rapid pace, according to a new analysis released today by the Center to Advance Palliative Care. Palliative care programs are widely regarded to improve the quality of care of serious and chronic illness.

Researchers report that the number of programs in US hospitals with 50 or more beds increased from 658 (24.5%) to 1,486 (58.5%)–a 125.8% increase from 2000-2008.

Palliative care treats the pain, symptoms and stress of serious illness. The goal is to relieve suffering and improve quality of life. Unlike hospice care, it can be provided at the same time as curative treatment, and it is not dependent on prognosis. This new field of medicine is associated with improvements in both healthcare quality and healthcare costs.

“Palliative care programs are transforming care of the seriously ill in hospitals,” said Diane E. Meier, MD, director of the non-profit Center to Advance Palliative Care. “It addresses the fragmentation of the healthcare system and puts the focus back on communication with the patient and family. Hospitals today recognize that the cost of not providing this type of care is just too high.”

Although growth occurred nationwide, large hospitals (81% of hospitals with 300 or more beds) and not-for-profit hospitals (70% with 50 or more beds) were more likely to have a program compared to other types of hospitals.

The new analysis was conducted in conjunction with the National Palliative Care Research Center (NPCRC). The primary source of hospital data used for the analysis was the American Hospital Association (AHA) Annual Survey Database for fiscal years 2000 through 2008.

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The Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC) provides health care professionals with the tools, training, and technical assistance necessary to start and sustain successful palliative care programs in hospitals and other health care settings. Located at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, CAPC is a national organization dedicated to increasing the availability of quality palliative care services for people facing serious illness. www.capc.org